Contents

Introduction

Once upon a time, I was an actively developing themes and plugins for WordPress. No more. No, I have since moved on to other projects. And while this site is no longer updated, I want it to remain because when I was developing for WordPress, I found referencing other themes and plugins useful, even necessary.

But with the inclusion of the three functions that were the heart and soul of the Sandbox now in the WordPress core, my mark has been made, and there are new directions to go. Those functions, sandbox_body_class(), sandbox_post_class(), and sandbox_comment_class(), can be found in your recent WordPress download, simply renamed as body_class(), post_class(), and comment_class(), respectively. Mission accomplished.

So I hope what I did contribute once upon a time will continue to be of some use to the community. Plaintxt.org has become a single-page archive of what it was. Enjoy.

Original Welcome

Make yourself comfortable. Welcome to my personal experiment in combining minimalism with blog design. I offer themes that showcase your content and not my design skills, which are meager enough. Blogging shouldn’t be about filling a template.

That’s how plaintxt.org came to be: a home for minimalism in blog design. The designs here are solutions to problems that I encountered. These are WordPress themes that addressed my needs and tastes. I hope you find them useful too.

These themes include “premium” features, e.g., theme option menus that allow almost complete personalization as well as total Widgets compatibility, in addition to style sheets (including print styles) that demonstrate the highest attention to detail.

Each theme is free (as in speech) and licensed with the GNU General Public License, compatible with WordPress, a free semantic publishing platform, and include neither sponsored links nor deceitful code.

Sandbox Designs Competition

Perhaps you were redirected here from sndbx.org. Well, back in 2007, I held a design competition for theme templates based on the Sandbox. This was the first such design competition in the WordPress community, and it went off without a hitch. Sponsors included Press Harbor, WordPress for Dummies, Matt, and others. Cash awards were given. It was awesome.

Oddly, the most frequent request I have regarding the Sandbox Designs Competition is for the example content I provided so contestants could see exactly how their theme would look with the very content used in judging (the file, sndbx.2007-06-06.xml, is still available).

Themes

These free themes are designed for use with WordPress, a free semantic publishing platform, and are licensed with the GNU General Public License. These themes contain no sponsored links or any malicious code, are Widgets compatible, and include theme options submenus.

Barthelme

My favorite theme: Two columns with an unique approach to the fluid layout and typographically rich. An excellent choice for a photoblog, vlog, or any other content-centered blog. Features include customizable theme options from within the dashboard.

blog.txt

An elastic layout that is minimal: Less than 300 lines of CSS for screen and print. Robust theme options provide two- or three-column layouts for nine possible combinations. Named a top WordPress theme in Blogging for Dummies. A quintessential WordPress theme.

plaintxtBlog

The original minimalist three-column theme for WordPress. Its uncluttered layout make it deal for customization, with a wide content area to ensure your content is what visitors notice, the theme itself transparent. Sidebars are intentionally narrow to discourage clutter.

Sandbox

One of the most influential blog themes, the Sandbox is a starting point for designers and developers—the original and best blank slate theme. The Sandbox is rich with semantic classes powered by dynamic functions and Microformats. A collaboration between Scott (that’s me) and Andy.

Simplr

The original minimalist one-column theme for WordPress. It provides a unique format for highlighting the latest content. This is the theme I always wanted: one to reduce clutter and to provide focus. Features built-in recent comments and breadcrumb navigation. Excellent for photoblogs.

veryplaintxt

The original minimalist two-column theme for WordPress. A fluid layout with a newspaper-ish feel, its solid layout, thoughtful design elements, and numerous theme options make this theme much more than simply “plain.” This is the minimal classic WordPress theme.

Experiments (Plugins)

I have produced a number of plugins to modify and enhance WordPress to fit the needs I have required of it at times. In the spirit of sharing, I offer these plugins as experiments for general consumption, each licensed with the GNU General Public License.

Extended Options

Miscellaneous

Maybe you have questions. And maybe I have answers.

Code

If you are interested in looking back at the development of these themes and plugins, then you are in luck. The experiments (i.e., plugins) are hosted in a Google Code repository called wp-plugin-dev. For themes, each has its own repository (see list below). You can also browse a folder here of downloads, too.

Theme Google Code Repositories

Contact

If you have a question about any of the legacy WordPress software provided here, ask someone else. I no longer provide support. Sorry. However, the WordPress Support Forums are a great resource of information. Please go there. But if you really need to contact me for some non-support–related topic, you can do so via one of the sites mentioned below.

Links

As I mentioned, I am doing other things nowadays. You can find me on Twitter or perhaps my infrequently updated blog or, even better, check out some of my photography.

License

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA02110-1301, USA.

Terms of use

By accessing and downloading content, you agree to these Terms of use.

Acceptance of terms.

You agree to these terms by using this site. Your access to, and use of, this Web site (collectively referred to as the “Site”) is subject to the following Terms of Use and all applicable laws and regulations. By accessing and using the Site, you accept, without limitation or qualification, these Terms of Use, and acknowledge that any other agreements between you and plaintxt.org are superseded with respect to this subject matter. If you do not agree and accept, without limitation or qualification, these Terms of Use, you must exit the Site immediately, not use the files herein, and/or not subscribe to this service.

Disclaimer of warranties.

All content is subject to change and is provided to you “as is” without any warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or noninfringement. Please note that some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to you. Without limiting the foregoing, plaintxt.org neither warrants nor represents that your use of any Content will not infringe the rights of any third parties nor that the Content will be accurate, complete, or up-to-date. Additionally, with reference to any postings, comments, transmissions, and the like that may be on the Site, plaintxt.org assumes no responsibility or liability arising from any infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law, contained in any such locations on the Site.

Exclusion of liability.

Your use of the Site is at your own risk. Neither plaintxt.org nor any of its sponsors, affiliates, participants, or visitors, nor any of its agents or any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the Site or its content, are liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages arising out of or in any way connected with the use of this Site or content, whether based on contract, tort, strict liability, or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Please note that some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of certain damages, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to you.

Exclusion of indemnity.

By using this Site you agree to indemnify and hold plaintxt.org, its subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers, and employees harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you download, post, access, or make available through the Site, your use of the Site, your violation of these Terms of Use, your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein, or your violation of any rights of another.

Third-party disclaimer.

plaintxt.org may provide hyperlinks to third-party Web sites or other resources solely for your convenience.plaintxt.org does not control, and is not responsible for, the content or privacy policies on, or the security of, such Web sites. Without limiting the foregoing, plaintxt.org specifically disclaims any responsibility if such sites:

infringe any third party’s intellectual property rights;

are inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading;

are not merchantable or fit for a particular purpose;

do not provide adequate security;

contain viruses or other items of a destructive nature; or

are libelous or defamatory.

Neither does plaintxt.org endorse the content nor any products or services available on such Web sites. If you visit such Web sites or establish a hyperlink to such Web sites or the Site, you do so at your own risk and without the permission or endorsement of plaintxt.org.

Copyright policy.

Any Content downloaded by you from this Web site, including, without limitation, any files, images incorporated in or generated by the software, and data accompanying the software (collectively referred to as the “Content”) are the sole property of the owner, Scott Allan Wallick, except as expressly licensed by the GNU General Public License, http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html. Downloading the Content does not transfer title to the Content, or any intellectual property rights therein, to you.

This Site contains copyrighted and licensed materials (collectively referred to as the “Content”) which are owned by plaintxt.org or its contributors. It is illegal to duplicate, download, or distribute any Content from this Site, except as expressly licensed and in accordance with the GNU General Public License, http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html. You may not use photos or images of people or identifiable entities in any manner that suggests the endorsement or association of any product or service or in connection with any pornographic or immoral materials.

Revisions to these terms.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify or otherwise alter these terms and conditions at any time. Such modifications shall become effective immediately upon the posting thereof. You must review this agreement on a regular basis to keep yourself apprised of any changes.